Bet
by EmmelineVance713
Summary: Jily fluff, oneshot, bet, bad summaries as always


"Ten galleons it'll be Potter!" the young boy excitedly whispered to his classmate.

"No way, it's going to be Evans for sure," his companion snickered. "Fifteen and you're on." The pair shook hands and scampered out of the classroom behind their peers. A crowd was gathering around an oak bench near the staircase, more specifically, the long-haired gentleman standing on top of it.

"Come one, come all! Share all your opinions and empty your pockets, for, as I'm sure you've heard," Sirius winked with a swoon-worthy smirk. "The race has begun! Two star students, pitted against one another to find the ultimate prize: a vial of liquid luck itself! Will Evans, the brewer of this elixir, or James Potter, the most talented Seeker in generations, come out victorious?" His last word ended with a grunt as an angry redhead nudged him off the slab of wood.

"Sod off, Black. Yes, the rumors are true. Yes, Dorcas did lose the Felix Felicis we brewed in Potions class." A gasp spread throughout the excited mob. "And, yes, Potter and I do have a bet on who can find it faster. I will take questions for exactly five minutes if only to appease the masses." A small hand shot up towards the back of the audience. "Yes, girl in the back with the pink pigtails!"

"What are you gonna do with the luck if you find it first?"

"Excellent question! Um, I'm still deciding exactly what I'll use my potion for, but I promise you'll be the first to know, okay?"

"That's three minutes and fifty seconds remaining." Marlene McKinnon chimed in from where she stood behind her best friend. Several more hands were raised along with a murmur spreading among the students.

"How and why exactly did you bet with Potter?" a male student with wrinkled Hufflepuff robes yelled, not bothering to be called on.

"First of all, wait your turn, wait your turn," Lily admonished. "He was sitting behind me in Potions and saw Dorcas pocket our potion after class. We have Transfiguration next period, I was walking with Marlene, and he saw Dorcas clutching at her robes and yelling that she lost our elixir. I wanted to go find it and the buffoon yelled 'Not if I find it first!'. During lunch we talked it over and came to some reasonable terms," she blushed, remembering the conversation from earlier that day. "It's all good fun, I suppose. What's our time check, Marlene?"

"One minute and fifty-seven seconds, guys! Make these questions count!" Her best friend shouted. Students were jostling and climbing on top of each other to get their hands above people's heads. All reason and order had vanished, and the teachers began to file in and resolve the scuffles and bickering.

"Ok, you with the blond curls, right in the front! Thank you for raising your hands, c'mon, make it snappy!" Lily shrieked, whistling sharply to distract the fighting children.

"What do you get from Potter if you win?" the young boy called back.

"That's for me to know and everyone to find out **when** I win, and that's that!" Lily continued with red cheeks. "Last one, I am a prefect as you know and I told Sirius I would take no more than five minutes for this! Yes, you, the girl right there with the purple shirt. Hurry up, I really need to get to class!"

"Is it true you have to go on a date with James if he wins?" The crowd of teenagers let out a collective 'ooo' as the girl's cheeks reddened.

"Yes." She stepped off the bench and strode away with Marlene, who hit a button on her timer and dragged Sirius behind her. He predictably blew a kiss to the crowd before planting one on his girlfriend's cheek.

* * *

"Shut up! I am not scared of you, Potter," she spat, scooting closer to her best friend on their side of the grand table. James smirked and slid the same direction, drawing a sharp grunt from a winded Peter.

"You are too! After all, I **am** about to find the potion! I know exactly where it is and Pete over here is just the person I need to get it," he winked, shoving his shoulder into his friend.

"Um, no, you will not! I said we were working alone, you idiot. I haven't even let Dorcas here help me and she lost it in the first place! That luck is mine**. MINE.** You should be scared of me; you can't even find it without your friends!" In a huff, she marched off, dragging a sheepish Dorcas and an apologetic Marlene behind her.

* * *

"Dorcas, where the hell did you drop the stupid thing? It's been two weeks now!" The ginger exasperatedly whined, flopping onto the canopied bed and shooting a sharp glare at the apologetic girl sitting beside her.

"If I knew where it was, I'd tell you, I swear you've spent more time talking about it than looking for it," Dorcas muttered through gritted teeth as she exchanged a look with the other redhead behind her. "How many times have we actually gone out and looked for it?"

"Honestly, Lily, it's almost like you want to go on a date with James." Marlene chuckled before Lily's hastily thrown pillow hit her in the face.

"Why would you ever assume that? He's so rude, and brash, and aggravating, and, and-"

"And hot." Dorcas laughed, earning another pillow chucked in her direction.

"Can both of you shut up? Yes, maybe I wouldn't mind going on a date with the buffoon. But I want it on my terms, and my terms alone. So help me find the bottle! I knew promising not to use magic would be my downfall, goddamnit," she groaned, dramatically dragging both hands down her cheeks before propping herself up. "Tomorrow, we find it. If you tell anyone anything I said I kill you both, and yes, that includes Sirius, Marlene." Halfheartedly, she forced a giggle that turned into real laughter.

* * *

"How the hell did he find it?" She snapped, shoving Sirius in the chest in her anger. "I literally scoured every inch of the castle with every free second I had for three days, Sirius. This isn't fair, I deserved to win the bet-"

"ImayormaynothavehiddenthevialandpretendedtoloseitbecauseJamesaskedformyhelp" Dorcas quickly sputtered, hiding behind Marlene.

"Slow down. Repeat that." Lily growled, narrowing her eyes to slits.

"I may or may not have hidden the vial in my robes and pretended to lose it because James asked for my help getting you to go out with him and I gave him the vial last night because I felt like it was good timing and please don't hate me I'm sorry I went behind your back and also those two were in on it please don't hate us!" The girl repeated, flushing scarlet and offering her hand to Lily.

"Where. Is. He." Her response seemed to be half in anger but half in strange wonder, a hint of amusement and flattery playing underneath her words.

"Behind you," a smug voice piped up behind her. "So, how about Hogsmeade, Evans?"

"Why didn't you just ask me? Why go through this insane competitive and complicated scheme only to have it be simply resolved like this? I mean, I haven't really seen you for three weeks because of a little bet." She missed him a little; she'd never admit it.

"Because it's fun. It's you and me! See you Saturday," James winked, motioning for Sirius to walk with him as he mocked her expression of surprise. "Scared?"

"You wish."

A/N:

Hellooooo, I'm back! It has been a loooong time since I've written or published something Harry Potter related; my inspiration has definitely been lacking and this is ROUGH. This is OLD and really not good from maybe May or June, and I left it unfinished to pick up later and finish. Today's the day! This break from seriously writing has been pretty glorious, not gonna lie! However, I have new ideas, and they'll slowly-but-surely be getting finished. I'm also planning to come back to my hooties as a Mahoutokoro part-timer in season 2 of the IWSC, so you'll likely see a bit more of me there as well! Thanks for reading 3


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